Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the IT Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
After service disruptions, Hood County directs HR to draft IT director posting and orders an RFP for managed services
Summary
Following recent IT staffing disruptions and public testimony urging local responsiveness, Commissioners directed HR to draft a job posting for a county IT director and asked purchasing to prepare an RFP for IT managed services; the court also signaled interest in an IT oversight committee.
Hood County Commissioners on May 27 directed staff to prepare a job posting for an IT director and to draft a request for proposals (RFP) for IT managed services after a week of service disruptions prompted judges and court offices to describe slow vendor response and operational backlogs.
Courtroom testimony included:
- Tom Rickert, a former county IT employee, warned that the county’s existing in‑house IT staff collectively hold decades of experience and urged the court to be careful before outsourcing because rapid remote response times can be difficult to replicate.
- Dan Drake of TechBundle described his company’s experience serving Texas counties, noted SOC 2 compliance and CJIS awareness, and recommended an IT oversight committee made up of appointed officials (auditor, district attorney, county clerk and commissioner) to provide governance if the county moves to an outsourced model.
- Courtney Robbins read comments from Judge Freeman, who said sudden change in IT staff had disrupted court operations (credit card swipe system failures and multi‑day ticket responses) and opposed wholesale outsourcing, urging local boots‑on‑the‑ground support.
Multiple speakers said local responsiveness — the ability to have technicians on site quickly — remains a central concern. Commissioner Samuelson framed the approach as ‘both/and’: ask HR to create a draft IT director posting for court review and ask purchasing to draft an RFP so the court can compare options rather than immediately shifting services offsite.
The court voted unanimously to direct HR to prepare a posting for an IT director for review and to direct purchasing to draft an RFP for IT managed services. Commissioners also discussed adding an IT oversight committee to a future agenda to explore hybrid models that preserve local service while leveraging external expertise.
What happens next: Human Resources will draft the job posting and circulate it to the court; purchasing will prepare an RFP draft for the court to review. The court expects to see both items at a future meeting before any posting or procurement is executed.
